Why Flood Insurance Creates Unintended Consequences

Flooding 34 times in 32 years, a $69,000 home in Mississippi received close to $663,000 in payouts. Similarly, for 16 floods in 18 years the owners of a Houston home valued at $115,000 got $800,000. The insurance industry calls them…

Weekly Roundup: From Traffic Congestion to Job Evaluation

Our everyday economics includes central planning, unintended consequences, comparative advantage, transportation infrastructure, cost & developing nations.

Weekly Roundup: From Raisin Reserves to Greek Bank Reserves

Our everyday economics includes inelasticity, supply, regulation, entitlements, subsidies, healthcare, innovation, price floor, monetary policy, euro zone.

Weekly Roundup: From Fed Humor to the Wisdom of Warren Buffett

Our Posts Roundup Sunday 3.01.15 Handy notes from Warren Buffett…more Monday 3.02.15 The basics of Greek tax evasion…more Tuesday 3.03.15 Insight about airline queues…more Wednesday 3.04.15 Why we subsidize Brazilian farmers…more Thursday 3.05.15 What an ATM can teach us…more  …

A Surprise in the Federal Budget

Told by the World Court to stop the subsidies paid to cotton farmers that distort prices, the U.S. has settled the case by paying Brazilian cotton farmers.

Weekly Roundup: From Good Voices to Bad Marriages

Our everyday economics includes GDP, human capital, price system, public goods, taxes, gender pay gap, externalities, subsidies, marriage economics and ROI.

The Oscar Costs That No One Mentions

The tax breaks we give films, the taxes owed by stars for their gift bags and the winners’ speeches at the Academy Awards all show there is no free lunch.

Our Weekly Roundup: From North Carolina to Norway

SUNDAY 10.19.2014 The reason the Russian McDonald’s is shrinking…more MONDAY 10.20.2014 The economic impact of ebola fear…more TUESDAY 10.21.2014 How more valuable women lead to less marriage…more   WEDNESDAY 10.22.2014 Why Norway has so many Teslas…more   THURSDAY 10.23.2014 The damage…

There Is No Such Thing as a Free Charge

Electric vehicle subsidies change a slew of incentives that range from car purchases to commuting and parking decisions.

Our Weekly Roundup: From Cheap Gas to Expensive Soda

This week’s everyday economics stories include subsidies, human capital, game theory, price controls, inelastic demand, and monopolistic competition.